THRESHOLDS: The
Agequotes Victorian Greens leader,
Greg Barber MLC, saying - very properly - in
response to some members of the major parties
speculating about imposing misguided exclusionary
thresholds from 3% to 5%, that any reform of
the voting system should first be considered by
Parliament's Electoral Matters Committee, and the
public hearings it holds.

WA SENATE POLL:
Australian Electoral Commission media
statement on WA Senate poll admits GVT
booklets are lengthy, and voters without internet
are discriminated against, by saying, "GVTs are also
available in every polling place on request.
Voters with internet access may find it more
convenient to review party/group voting
tickets at home rather than examine the lengthy GVT
booklet at the
polling place.

Members and interested persons are
invited to a free talk by Malcolm
Mackerras AO on "Changes Needed to the
Senate Electoral System" to be followed by
discussion with those present. It will be at 8 pm on
Tuesday 1 April 2014 in central Melbourne.
For further details ring 0429176725 or email vtpre@prsa.org.au
and book by email.

The countback to
fill the Bayside City Council seat vacated by Cr
Stephen Hartney led to Bruce Lowe being elected
to that Central Ward seat, despite PRSA's earlier
expectation that Damon Carli would be
elected, as Stephen Hartney had, at the 2012
general election, recommended that his voters
should give their second preference to Mr Carli.
As the Returning Officer's Distribution
Report shows however, enough ballot
papers in the quota of votes that had Stephen
Hartney elected were marked by the voters with
Bruce Lowe ahead of Damon Carli, so Mr Lowe
received an absolute majority of Stephen
Hartney's quota, and was therefore elected
rather than Mr Carli.